The U.S. Open winner wasted a chance to take over the top spot in the ATP Champions Race by frittering away an early lead Saturday and losing 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 to David Prinosil in the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup.

Prinosil, an unseeded German, faces defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov in Sunday's final. The Russian beat Marc Rosset 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

The women's final pits No. 1 Martina Hingis against doubles partner Anna Kournikova, who's still in search of her first WTA title.

Safin served well in the first set, ending the tiebreaker with an ace. Then it all came apart, as Prinosil elevated his game.

``I was shocked at the way he played today,'' Safin said. ``He served well and didn't give me much chance. Unfortunately, such is life.''

Life has been good for Safin since he contemplated retirement early in the year. After rededicating himself to tennis, he won five tournaments, including a straight-set victory over Pete Sampras in the U.S. Open final.

Those results moved the 20-year-old Safin atop the Champions Race last month, though he has since slipped to second place behind French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten.

Making Safin's day even more of a disappointment, he and Denis Golovanov lost 6-4, 6-4 to Prinosil and Jonas Bjorkman in the doubles semifinals of the $2 million tournament.

Hingis defeated Amelie Mauresmo 7-5, 6-3 Saturday, while the fourth-seeded Kournikova ousted No. 2 seed Nathalie Tauziat of France 6-2, 6-1 in just 45 minutes before a crowd of 12,000 at the Olympic indoor stadium.

``I've played a good match today, one of my best,'' said Kournikova, who is 1-8 against Hingis. ``I felt the support of the crowd.''

Hingis lost serve in the first and fifth games of the opening set and trailed 5-1. But she reeled off six straight games -- dropping only four points along the way -- and took the set by breaking Mauresmo at love in the final game.

``I just didn't play very well in the beginning, I made a lot of errors, and then I stopped,'' Hingis said. ``And the game changed around. I just made it too easy for her in the beginning.''

She and Kournikova will team for the doubles final Sunday against U.S. Open champions Julie Halard-Decugis and Ai Sugiyama.

Hingis and Kournikova beat Tauziat and Alexandra Fusai 6-3, 6-0 in the semifinals, while Halard-Decugis and Sugiyama eliminated Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 7-5, 6-2.